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Making a Rate My Team (RMT) Thread

After you have created your Pokémon team, you'll want to make it into a RMT post. However, posting six Pokémon and their moves will not be enough. This guide is here to help you make your RMT post as insightful and attractive as possible.

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II. Basic Elements & Rules

There are many elements every RMT post must have. Without any of them, the RMT post will be incomplete and harder to rate. You are required to include:

→ 6 Pokémon and information about each one (its item, trait/ability, EVs, nature, and moveset are all required)

Why? Obviously, this is so the team raters know not just what moveset your Pokémon are running, but also what hits they're supposed to take and what they're trying to outspeed.

→ An explanation of each Pokémon's moveset, strategy, and function(s) on the team

Why? If the team raters do not know what each Pokémon is trying to accomplish, then they will probably question the Pokémon's spot on the team (especially with sets that aren't very common).

→ An explanation of how the team functions as a whole (including potential problems, weaknesses, etc.)

Why? If the team raters do not know what your team as a whole is trying to accomplish, it's very difficult for them to make effective changes to your team.

→ A mention of what metagame the team is being played in (best included in the thread title)

Why? Obviously, this is to be sure team raters are in the right frame of mind while rating your team. Though the tier is usually fairly obvious, it is always a good thing to mention.

→ A mention of what you will not change on your team and what changes you will not accept

Why? If you won't change Scizor, then you might as well tell the raters before they rate rather than waiting until after to explain that Scizor won't be moved. On the same token, if you will only use Pokémon resembling dragons or BL Pokémon, telling raters in advance will let them know what they can't suggest to improve your team.

B. Other Consideration

Beyond what is absolutely required, there are many elements of a RMT post that greatly enhance the quality of the RMT post. Some of these elements include:

→ Threat list (a list of all major threats in the metagame from walls to sweepers and how the team is prepared to deal with each one of them)

Why? A threat list gives team raters insight into how you normally deal with the big threats your team has to face, and it helps to get weaknesses exposed and then dealt with. If you include a threat list, be sure to be honest with yourself; this means not pretending to have something covered. Weaknesses will be exposed by team raters anyways, so you might as well save them the time of finding the weaknesses for you by finding them yourself.

→ Team strategy explanation (a section that is there only to explain the strategy and synergy of your team)

Why? Your team's strategy is better communicated to team raters, who would otherwise have to look at each Pokémon's individual set comments to figure out how the team works. The explanation also allows team raters to more easily figure out where holes in the team's actual strategy are so they can be fixed.

→ Introduction

Why? An introduction is a nice way to start off any RMT post. It is usually just introducing the team's style or telling an anecdote about its creation, but it gives the RMT post some more personality.

→ Conclusion

Why? A conclusion is good to solidify any main ideas (and even small details) of your RMT post into team raters' minds, which they will likely keep in mind while rating your team.

C. Other Rules & Requirements

There are a few rules and requirements that have not yet been mentioned yet. These rules include:

→ Don't even bother creating a RMT post if you will not accept criticism or make serious changes, or if you only want to hear praise.

Why? You're only wasting peoples' time if you're only looking for your team to be praised as the Roman Empire of Pokémon. Your thread will just be closed. Be open to change, even if that means major revamps. Your team will not get any better if you refuse to accept that your team is going to have some weak points. If you disagree with raters' opinions, feel free to do so as long as you are using good logic and clear thinking. Being narrow minded is extremely silly.

→ Do not post your team before testing it extensively.

Why? The best team rater is the opposing team. Many weaknesses can be found and fixed just through testing your team. It will help make the team you post a more polished product, so less work will have to be done by both you and the team raters. It will also help you figure out what strategy fulfills your team's potential the most, which will help you in structuring it and making changes when necessary.

→ Do not copy somebody else's team from another forum and try to pass it off as your own.

Why? It is plagiarism, and it is wrong. So don't do it! Your thread will be locked, and people will think less of you. If you use somebody else's team, more power to you. Just don't act like it's your creation. I shouldn't even have to say this, yet people do it for some reason. [ Moderator note ] You can receive a four point PERMANENT infraction for Content Theft. So unless you want that stain on your record forever, don't commit plagiarism.

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III. Aesthetics

A. Artistic Elements

When it comes to making your RMT post look good, there are a lot of options at your disposal. You can go far beyond what most people post if you are willing to put in the extra effort. Your can include all kinds of different elements to make your post look however you might want it to look. Some of these elements include:

→ Pictures of each Pokémon directly above their information

Why? Pictures make the RMT post more colorful and visually appealing. They also make it easier for team raters to see with a glance what the members of the team are if they are looking back. They're fairly easy to implement, so they are always useful for any RMT post.

→ "At A Glance" section (the entire team's sprites posted horizontally in order at the top of the RMT post)

Why? As the name of this element suggests, it allows everybody to see your team with the glance of an eye. Like pictures, it makes the team more visually appealing, and it gives team raters an idea of what kind of team they should expect to be looking at. Be sure to use smaller pictures for this element!

Why? These elements draw attention to certain parts of your RMT post, whether it is titles, descriptions, or moves on one of your Pokémon. Of course, varying the colors and sizes of the font can make a RMT post more attractive, but be careful; when overdone, these elements will be more obnoxious and distracting than attractive, so use them wisely!

B. Art Resources

When making a RMT post, there are a few very helpful resources for making your RMT post the most gorgeous and lovely it can be. Some of these resources include:

Why? By simply searching the Pokémon you want and scrolling down your page, you will find sprites from every generation the Pokémon has appeared in. It also includes Platinum sprites, another useful resource for "At A Glance."

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IV. Formatting

A. Formatting Rules

Even if you include all of the required information, if your format is a mess, it is useless to team raters. To prevents this, there are rules when it comes to formatting your RMT post. The formatting requirements/rules are:

→ Do not use very small or very large font sizes.

Why? Tiny font sizes are very difficult to read and are hard on one's eyes. Giant font sizes are equally annoying for raters to put up with. Both will likely reduce the amount of rates you get since raters will not want their eyes to bleed in the process of rating your team.

→ Do not use very bright or obnoxious colors for the text.

Why? Bright and obnoxious text colors (yellow...), like tiny or giant font sizes, will be very hard on peoples' eyes, and raters will almost inevitably ignore your RMT post. Black oo dark greens, blues, or purples should be used instead.

→ Do not clutter everything together

Why? A cluttered RMT post is almost impossible to read, so your team will not likely receive any rates. Using spacing will make your RMT post much easier to read, and it will obviously look better on top of that.

→ Do not use center or right alignment for your RMT.

Why? Right and center aligned RMT posts are very difficult to read, so keep everything aligned to the left. It's much easier for raters to read and refer back to as they type out their rates.

→ Put all of the sections and elements of your RMT post in a logical order.

Why? Putting the "At A Glance" element after the in-depth look of the team just doesn't make sense, and it makes your RMT post look like an unprofessional mess. Putting everything in a logical order makes your RMT post easier to read.

B. Standard Format

This is the almost exclusively used format that is used for RMT posts everywhere. It's the most organized and the easiest to understand, and other formats are often distracting and are usually much more messy. If you open the team builder on ShoddyBattle and use the "Export To Text" function, you will get an adequate format to use in your RMT post. If you choose not to do that, then you should apply this format (or a similar variation) to all Pokémon in your RMT post:

NOTE: With larger pictures (like ones from Arkeis), it is a good idea to leave a space between the picture and the Pokémon information to keep things spaced out. With sprites, spaces are usually not needed.

Set Comments: This is your typical SR suicide lead Azelf. Stealth Rock is important to set up right away to open up a sweep for Lucario or Gyarados, so it is important that the rocks are put into play right away. Psychic is a reliable STAB attack (especially against leading Gengar), and Fire Blast is great for hammering Bronzong. Explosion is great with Azelf's 125 base attack, and it makes a great move to go out on. It also takes out or severely weakens leading Gyarados (depending on the EVs it is running), which helps open up a Lucario sweep since Gyarados is a common counter. Azelf is extremely important in getting the team off to a fast start and opening up a sweep for the barn full of sweepers this team possesses. It isn't Azelf's standard set for nothing.

Gyarados is a total beast of a physical sweeper. After one Dragon Dance, almost nothing stops it. Gyarados is also meant to set up Electivire by drawing in electric attacks from Vaporeon or Uxie, and then Electivire gets a speed boost from Motor Drive switching in. Still, sweeping is its main function. One of its jobs is to soften up Vaporeon (even if this means sacrificing itself) so that MixApe can come in and sweep. Gyarados can also be saved for the late game game rather than be used in the early game to soften up opponents. This is almost a guaranteed sweep, as it is hard enough to beat Gyarados with its counters around. Without them, Gyarados runs wild.

V. Example RMT Posts

Now that you know what to include in your RMT post, how to make it look good, and how to format your information, you have all of the tools you need to make a RMT post! However, for extra guidance, some examples of superb RMT posts are here for you to use as a reference. Some of these examples include:

VI. Closing Comments

Thank you for reading this guide. Remember, RMT posts are what keep the forum afloat, so do your part and make yours worthwhile! This will ensure that the forum remains active with high quality posts and discussions. Good luck making your team into a fabulous RMT post!